Bright Sword: Construction starts from southeastern Shanxi

After everyone in the brigade finished talking about the development of their respective areas over the past month, Zeng Jiwen and other brigade leaders were suddenly filled with emotion. From the reorganization in northern Shaanxi to the establishment of anti-Japanese bases in Xiyang and Heshun, their own troops were beginning to grow and develop slowly.

"Commander, Xiyang and Heshun are located on the main road between Yangquan and Changzhi, and their populations are much larger than in other mountainous areas."

"Previous statistics showed that the populations of Xiyang and Heshun were approximately 12 and 8, respectively. However, according to our actual statistics after entering the base area, the number is around 30. Excluding the county seat, the population we directly control in these surrounding towns and villages is approximately 22."

"There are 70,000 to 80,000 young and middle-aged people in the surrounding area. According to our current capabilities, it is no problem to mobilize 4,000 to 5,000 people. If there are more, it will affect production." Political Commissar Zhou Shi said to Zeng Jiwen.

"So this means we can expand our team by about 5,000 people?" Chief of Staff Wang Zhuo looked quite happy.

"That's not true. Expanding the force by 5,000 people all at once would be difficult to come by and fill up on weapons and equipment!" Wu Lin had a different opinion. "Furthermore, with almost half of the troops being recruited at once, the unit's combat effectiveness would be significantly reduced."

"Old Wu is right. We can't organize so many troops at once. Combat effectiveness will also be a problem." Liu Ming agreed.

"Deng Xia, what's the situation over there? I heard that you are almost arriving in Yushe." Huang Hanjia smiled.

"What else could it be? Deputy Brigade Commander, as you know, the west of Heshun is entirely mountainous. The troops have been a heavy burden on the local villagers. Although we currently have food reserves, they can only last for two months. Lao Wang, Lao Wu, and I have discussed it and decided to disperse to various mountainous areas in company and platoon units."

"I didn't expect that the Third Battalion saw that the surrounding area was full and simply ran to Yangle. As you know, after Taiyuan fell, Jinzhong also fell. It happened that our brigade wiped out the 79th Regiment last month, and it became famous throughout Shanxi. Some people in Jinzhong heard that our brigade had troops near Yushe, so they ran to our base." Deng Xie said happily.

"Then you've picked up a great bargain," Zhou Xi said happily. To the west of Heshun lies a vast mountainous area with winding, steep roads, making it a perfect place to hide a large population and a large army. Furthermore, due to the inconvenient transportation, many local products are self-sufficient. It's perfectly possible to establish a base there and radiate outward.

"You are still talking about us. I just heard from Guosheng that your small troops have arrived in Xingtai and Wuan." Wang Zhuo said to the political commissar with a smile.

"Well, the method is the same as yours. As you know, the Taihang Mountains over there span the entire Shanxi and Hebei regions. As soon as Lao Huang divided his troops, he arranged for them to head towards these two places."

"As you know, the only suitable place for us right now is that large mountainous area," the political commissar said with a smile. "Especially in Hebei. The Japanese army has occupied a large area of ​​land, and many people have fled to the countryside. As soon as our troops arrived, they escorted many people to the mountainous areas."

"Then now we have to pay attention to spies." Hearing this, Liu Ming suddenly remembered.

"That's right. We have to let the Political Department come up with a solution. If these spies leak our information, it will be disastrous if the Japanese army launches a large-scale attack." Cai Xu looked solemn.

When Zeng Jiwen heard this, he also paid attention. This problem must be solved, otherwise the Japanese army would be like wild dogs, and would come to wherever the troops went, following the scent.

Then, a light bulb went off in his head, and he thought of the area around the top of the Daming Peak when China took off in the future. He immediately thought of a solution. So, he said to the political commissar.

"Old Zhou, I just came up with a solution that can solve most of the problems you mentioned, and it can also be promoted in other units of our Eighth Route Army."

"Oh, what's the method?" Everyone looked interested when they heard it.

"As you know, we're currently making steady progress in this area. We can disperse the refugees to various local villages and have the locals keep an eye on these new arrivals. If they show any unusual behavior, we can have the locals report it to us, and we'll assign people to keep a close eye on them. Any spy will be exposed sooner or later."

"At the same time, teach the villagers some common tactics used by the Japanese. For example, if you look at a peddler roaming around the villages, what kind of people does he come into contact with? Are they locals or outsiders? How often do they come in contact? Have the militia in each village keep an eye on these people. If these peddlers don't usually sell much goods but keep wandering around the villages, then have the intelligence organization in the county quietly investigate and their authenticity will be revealed."

After hearing this, everyone was amazed. In this way, the base would most likely prevent most spies from gathering information.

"At the same time, in order to prevent the Japanese army from impersonating us, we can hide some secret codes in the communication activities between villages and troops, which only our people know."

"Sure, Lao Zeng, this is a good idea. I think it's fine. You can report it to the headquarters and let other brother troops try it as well." The political commissar said happily.

After listening to Zeng Jiwen's method, everyone agreed with it. Inadvertently, they solved a major problem that could prevent the Japanese army from gathering intelligence.

"Regarding the expansion issue that everyone just talked about, what is the current situation in your various locations?" Zeng Jiwen asked the political commissar and chief of staff.

"The three of us have established militias in every village and organized the young and strong people in the village. They usually open up wasteland and farm. In their spare time, we let them receive some military training. It doesn't need to be too much, as long as we can arrange for the villagers to move if the Japanese army comes to the countryside in the future. At the same time, we have planned the places for the villagers to retreat after the Japanese army may come to the countryside to raid." said the political commissar.

"At the same time, we set up guerrilla forces in the mountainous areas, equipped them with weapons, and set them up to trouble isolated small Japanese units, specifically to lure them into ambush circles for the main force and annihilate them. This has happened several times in the past month," Political Commissar Zhou Shi continued.

"Based on the actual situation in the area, we have drawn three companies to form three local regiments. One is in Xingtai near the mountainous area, one is in Wu'an near the third district, and the other is in the Taihang Mountains. They are mainly responsible for maintaining local public security. Training has always been the responsibility of the main force."

"In addition to some Japanese weapons, there are also some equipment of the puppet troops who were ambushed before." After the political commissar finished speaking, everyone sighed. In a short time, the 781st Regiment alone could mobilize the strength of three regiments.

After listening to the political commissar's introduction, everyone turned their attention to Chief of Staff Wang Zhuo.

Wang Zhuo looked at everyone and said, "Why are you all looking at me? I'm not a grown-up girl."

Everyone burst into laughter. "We're pretty much the same as Lao Zhou and his men. We've basically established militias and guerrilla units in each village. Besides the local regiment in Hengling Mafang, we've also established two more along the transportation lines between Yushe and Jinzhong. Our equipment is sufficient to provide one gun per person, though it's rather complex. It's mostly captured from the local security forces recruited by the Japanese army."

"However, we have ambushed troops from Jinzhong who were transporting supplies to the Japanese army in Yushe. This winter, we estimate that we can draw some troops from the three local regiments and some from the 783rd Regiment to form a combat regiment of 1500 people." Wang Zhuo said with a smile.

Everyone was suddenly filled with surprise.